Why A Year Abroad Could Be The Best Decision You Ever Make
Hi! I’m Meg and I’m reaching the end of my year abroad in Seoul, South Korea. Whilst moving abroad to study for either a semester or two isn’t for everyone, I wanted to give an insight into my view of studying abroad, the highs and lows I’ve experienced along the way and hopefully help to encourage people given this opportunity to take the plunge and make the move!
I’ve tried to make this not just a recount of everything I’ve experienced here in Korea because this differs for everyone. Instead, I wanted to give a little bit of advice to put your mind at ease if you’re thinking about studying, or just moving, abroad in the near future. However, like I said, experiences abroad are different and mine has been shaped by the benefits of certain factors. Firstly, I moved to a large city with transport links which has meant that I’ve been able to travel easily away from my university campus and see some amazing places across the country. I had also already met some other people travelling to the same city beforehand which helped and whilst I moved into a completely different culture, with a lack of English speakers, I have lived with a vast amount of people in the same position as me. These were people with whom I share a language and we have all found our bearings simultaneously and together. Bear in mind factors like these when deciding where you would like to go.
However, wherever you end up I think one of the greatest accomplishments of moving abroad is realising that you really can be independent and from that you will grow so much as a person. Coming to Korea, I took my first ever flight alone (and 14 hours straight nonetheless). I suddenly had to figure out everything on my own; the worst probably being how to get a covid test without a sim card and in a foreign country that doesn’t speak much English. Overall though I had to learn how live with just myself to rely on daily. It’s the best thing that could have happened to me, but it is scary. Once you feel settled enough to begin to understand how to get around and to somewhat convert prices and currency in your mind, that’s when you know you can do it. You’re already thrown out of your comfort zone at this point and now you get to explore it.
Korea has become a home for me and that in itself is one of the most unique and coolest things I can claim. This country is now special to me and the memories I have here I get to share with such a great group of people who experienced them with me; people I maybe didn’t know 6 months ago. The place that you end up in also becomes something you get to share with family and friends who weren’t here with you. When my family came to visit, I suddenly felt like an expert on Korea and Seoul in particular and it felt amazing to be able to share this aspect of my life with the people I love.
Over Christmas I experienced one of the hardest parts of my year abroad so far. One of the struggles I found, particularly from studying abroad for a year, is that a lot of my friends from my first semester, the people I started this journey with, were only here for one term and so a wave of goodbyes was imminent. Saying goodbye to people I had built memories and shared such a bond with was difficult. They were suddenly gone and yet I was staying, in the same accommodation nonetheless, waiting for strangers to take up their bedrooms. Luckily my best friends were staying, but for all of us this was still difficult. I had to constantly remind myself that everyone who had left were now my people for life. Even if I didn’t see them again for a long time, I knew that the memories and experiences we share will be remembered forever and so we’re bound. But having gotten through this struggle, I suddenly made a whole new groups of friends who arrived in semester two and who did not replace, but added to the number of people I can share this experience with. Meeting new people from across the world has really been a beautiful aspect of my year abroad. All the down days you may have will pass but the good days you will remember for a lifetime.
The growth of confidence I’ve experienced here will be something I’m eternally grateful for. As long as you have a somewhat open mindset to trying new things and pushing yourself, a year abroad will prove that you can absolutely do anything. This is why I couldn’t encourage you more to take the opportunity. For me, this year has been the most rewarding experience of my life so far and I hope that the little insight I’ve given you here has been somewhat beneficial to shaping your decision in the future! ☺
